A NARUC task force presented its proposed agreement on intercarrier compensation (ICC) reform in a closed door meeting at the FCC. Sources familiar with the presentation Wed. said the proposal would “harmonize” access charges significantly, dividing carriers into 3 groups and providing different compensation rates for large, medium and small carriers.
Telecom reform is possible if Senate Commerce Committee members can strike a deal on fixing the Universal Service Fund (USF), Chmn. Stevens (R-Alaska) said Tues. at a hearing on rural telecom. “We're close to getting some consensus that USF is going to survive; it’s going to be workable; it isn’t going to be a tax… and it’s going to be managed by the industries involved,” Stevens told reporters. He made clear USF shouldn’t come under Anti-Deficiency Act requirements that funds be in hand before agencies commit to spending them. Stevens said he expects to mark up a bill before Easter.
If Howard Stern had told CBS Radio in 2004 he was interested in jumping to Sirius when he was negotiating his contract with the satellite radio provider, it would have “pursued a satellite radio project jointly” with him. So says the 43-page suit filed last week against Sirius, Stern and Don Buchwald, Stern’s agent and manager. CBS Radio seeks damages for the value of the airtime it says Sirius “misappropriated for its own use through… unfair competition.”
The Universal Service Fund (USF) needs close scrutiny, and random audits might be a way to root out abuses, Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. Stevens (R-Alaska) said Thurs. at the 2nd of 2 hearings on the fund. “I've been thinking about asking the committee to put into the bill a random audit of costs of all recipients -- a sort of little GAO,” Stevens said. The program couldn’t be comprehensive, but it could put recipients on notice that they need to use funds responsibly, Stevens said.
The FCC Thurs. extended provisions of its Oct. 2005 order providing limited USF benefits to victims of Hurricane Katrina (CD Oct 18 p2). Provisions of the order had expired Wed. Thurs.’s order provides evacuees and others affected by Katrina 3 additional months to qualify for 300 min. of free wireless service and a handset under the federal Lifeline program, with a maximum value of $130. It also extends until Sept. 30 the filing window for schools and libraries directly affected by the storm to apply for 2006 funding under the federal E-rate program. The Commission also waives the “two- in-five” rule for affected schools, which blocks applicants from receiving funds for internal connections for more than 2 out of every 5 funding years.
Satellite broadband providers should be “allowed to operate free from unnecessary common carrier obligations,” the Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA) told the FCC last week. Commenting on the Commission’s Broadband NPRM (WC 05-271), the SIA said it “stands with the diverse array of commenters that have urged the Commission to refrain from imposing common carrier obligations on broadband Internet access service providers.” The SIA urged the Commission to preempt state regulation on the issue and “to act affirmatively” to ensure healthy competition. Satellite broadband remains especially valuable to rural residents, SIA said: “Large portions of the U.S. are not now, and may never be, served by either cable or DSL due to the cost of wiring remote areas or technical limitations.” Satellite broadband shouldn’t be hindered by the common carrier obligations proposed in the NPRM, which would “stymie competition and innovation among satellite broadband providers,” SIA argued. The Assn. said it “urges the FCC to observe its historical policy in favor of minimal regulation of satellite services.” In a similar vein, the Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA) told the FCC it welcomes lawmakers’ efforts to reform the USF contribution methodology. But the SIA wants reform to be “competitively neutral” so as to promote broadband deployment to all Americans, including satellite broadband, the Assn. said in a different ex parte to the FCC. The SIA told the FCC it supports a retail numbers-based USF system. Each phone number in retail use, regardless of service technology, should pay the same USF contribution, the SIA said in an ex parte to the FCC. That way, retail service providers can pass the USF obligation to end users on a “competitively neutral” basis, the SIA said. But the Commission shouldn’t impose USF charges on Internet access connections, SIA argued. USF should be collected from broadband VoIP providers using telephone numbers for voice services over the Internet, but not for Internet access connections alone, they said.
Broadband providers are growing increasingly concerned that FCC attention to protecting customer proprietary network information (CPNI) means a pending rulemaking probably will produce a requirement that they protect such data. Cramming, slamming and truth in billing also were raised in a notice of proposed rulemaking the FCC released in Sept.
The Universal Service Fund (USF) should be tied to all forms of communication, Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. Stevens (R-Alaska) said Tues. at a hearing on the fund’s contribution rules. “This technology is changing so fast” a law is needed that can work for some time, Stevens said. It doesn’t make sense for Congress to rewrite complex rules and then have to change them again because of technology changes. He said the Committee is determined to get a fair set of principles on “who pays in and who pays out” and to eradicate abuses in the program.
NASUCA told FCC Chmn. Martin that, despite rumors of a USF crisis, the program is stable and in no need of major fixes. “Interstate revenues as reported to the Commission have remained stable,” NASUCA said: “The contribution base in the first quarter of 2006 is actually slightly higher than the contribution base from the first quarter of 1999, a period of 7 years.” NASUCA said “this means there is no pressing need -- indeed, possibly no long-term need -- for the Commission to adopt a contribution mechanism other than the current mechanism based on interstate and international revenues.”
The FCC is using a “hoax” argument that the Universal Service Fund (USF) contribution process is broken to justify fee hikes, a citizen group charged Fri. The USF contribution formula “requires at most minor adjustments that can be accomplished without hefty increases in federal phone fees,” the Keep USF Fair Coalition said. The group opposes FCC Chmn. Martin’s proposal to move from a long distance revenue- based system to one based on how many telephone numbers a carrier serves, claiming it would penalize low-volume long distance callers. At a news event set for today (Mon.), the group will discuss “the phony USF funding crisis.” A Tues. Senate hearing will address USF contribution methodology. Progress & Freedom Foundation Pres. Ray Gifford said the coalition’s view “is contrary to established fact.” The long distance industry, which is the basis for the current contributions system, “is in decline and it makes no sense as a funding vehicle for universal service in the age of VoIP technology.” A PFF working group has endorsed per-line fees.